crossoverfic | One Art 14/18 (Reply)

Title: One Art
Author: Shifty
Rating: PG
Summary: Methos is forced to confront his actions as Sergeant Lyman and the X-men face a new threat. Highlander/X-Men.
Previous chapters can be found here

Disclaimer: I don’t own Highlander or the X-men, nor do I own their characters. I’m not making any profit, just having a little fun.

Thanks to XWingAce who did a wonderful job betaing this.

Chapter 14:

The oldest Immortal blinked, slowly coming back to himself. Memories flooded him as the alluring and alarming blankness left him. Over the last few days he had fought three more Immortals. Ballard had questioned the boy about the locations of other Immortals. The young Immortal generally kept to himself, but he had known where his teacher and several of his teacher’s friends were. The first Immortal’s Quickening had been just as bad as the boy’s.

After spending several hours feeling miserable and being sick he had been confronted with another duel. He had refused. Ballard had, with a disgusting display of fake sympathy, told him that he would have to resort to using the serum. The Horseman had fought its control to the last.

The second fight had been a close call and Ballard had had to resort to interference. His disappointment had only served to fuel Death’s fury at him. The third fight was, by far, the best. His recovery was much faster and the quantity of Adamantium in his body had decreased enough that it did not take his entire concentration to restrain his Quickening. It was an understatement to say that he was relieved.

While he was no longer completely invulnerable he was a great deal sturdier than he had been before the process. While he was reasonably confident that he could take more damage he was not eager to put that theory to the test, despite what Ballard had in mind with the frequent duels.

Each time after the serum had worn off he had been shaken by how easy it was to strip away his prized control and Death had vowed to kill the insufferable mortal. He knew that the time was not yet right, but his patience had quickly worn thin.

If he had hated Ballard before, he despised him now. He would kill the mortal and destroy what was left of the serum. He could not afford to leave Ballard alive, the man knew far too much. More importantly, he did not want to let the general live. He chuckled darkly as he thought up various ways to kill Ballard, each more agonising than the last.

The door slid open once more and the oldest Immortal snarled. He was really getting sick and tired of dealing with this fool. His Quickening crackled in blue sparks across his hands and he glared at Ballard. Ballard looked surprised and Death simply smirked.

Previously he had only become aggressive when he had been threatened, but he was no longer going to be reactive. He was the oldest. He was Death. He was not a pawn in anybody’s game.

“Come little mortal, step inside my lair,” Death taunted. He lashed out with his Quickening but Ballard quickly stepped back and the blast hit one of the soldiers. The man flew backwards and slumped against the wall. Ballard quickly closed the door. Death laughed, the action had perhaps not been wise, but it was oh so satisfying.

He lay back down on the bed, stretching languidly. It was about time that the mortal got taken down a peg or two. He was far too full of himself as it was. Ballard would eventually come for him again. He had to if he wanted to complete his plan. He would also undoubtedly use the serum again. The general would be in for a surprise then. No one controlled Death. Not even Methos.

He smirked. Kronos would be so proud.

--

MacLeod had hired a rental car to drive to Eagle Lake, Maine. He could understand why an Immortal would want to live in Eagle Lake. It was a small town, population 815, surrounded by parks and reserves. But what made it such a wonderful place to live also made it dangerous for an Immortal. Small towns were unlikely to ignore such things as localised electrical storms or the fact that someone did not seem to be aging. In a city everyone’s business was their own and if someone did not appear to be aging then it was put down to either to marvellous anti-aging products or plastic surgery.

He quickly checked into one of the local inns, leaving Amy to find a motel. The other Immortal’s Watcher was still in town so they were unable to meet up. They communicated, but they did try not to rub it in the Watcher’s faces. MacLeod dialled Amy’s number once he got to his room.

“Yeah?”

“Amy, it’s MacLeod. Anything new?”

“Not really. David Cole’s body still hasn’t shown up. But if that was his Quickening at the base then that’s not surprising.”

“They must have another Immortal if there was a Quickening.” The thought that someone was using the military to Hunt other Immortals was unpalatable. For the fact that they were not following the rules of the Game but also because they endangered every Immortal. It was dangerous for the military to know about Immortals. MacLeod doubted that there would be any end to the advantages that the military would find to having Immortals; soldiers that did not die, people to test experimental drugs on without fear of side effects. MacLeod shuddered to think what would happen if the military was able to discover how the Quickening worked.

“The Watchers can’t do anything. If it had been a Watcher that had told the military that would be different, but if it’s an Immortal then we can’t interfere.”

“That non-interference policy seems to get in the way more often than not,” Duncan muttered. “I need to establish whether or not there is an Immortal there, then whether they are working with the military voluntarily or not.”

“And Adam?”

“Adam can look after himself. Hopefully he isn’t in too much danger at the moment. I can’t just ignore this. As much as I wish it didn’t have to be this way, Adam will have to wait.”

“I know he can look after himself, I just… worry about him. He was friends with Joe, and he saved my life, I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

“Adam always manages to land on his feet. Did the police find out anything about the Immortal that went missing?” Duncan asked, changing the topic. He was worried about Adam as well, and he hated to think that he was abandoning his friend, but the situation with Cole couldn’t be ignored.

“Nothing new. They don’t even know who kidnapped him. We just know what his Watcher said about it being military. If they are Hunting Immortals watch your back. You are pretty well known.”

“I will.” MacLeod looked up suddenly when he heard a noise. “I’ll call you back Amy,” he said quickly before shutting his phone off. He drew his sword even though he did not sense an Immortal. The weapon was a comfort in his hand.

He moved cautiously through the room he had been given, switching off all the lights, until he reached the door. He pressed an ear to it and his eyes narrowed as he definitely heard noises coming from the passage. He edged silently away from the door and pressed himself against the wall. Moments later he heard scratching at door to his room as someone tried to pick the lock. MacLeod edged further into the shadows.

The door swung open slowly and a man crept silently into the room. He was followed by two others, one of them remaining by the door. One of the two who moved into the room went to the bed, which had rumpled blankets, while the other watched his back.

“He’s not here,” the intruder by the bed told the other two.

MacLeod knew that he had to get out which meant getting past the one at the door. It did not seem to be too difficult a task. He was taller and broader than the man guarding the door. With a swift movement he leapt from the shadows and charged the man. The man stumbled back with the impact and they fell into the hallway.

“Get off of him,” one of the other men ordered. MacLeod jumped to his feet, ready to run. His eyes focused on the gun aimed at him. It was at times like this that he understood why Methos carried a gun of his own. It was a far more functional weapon than a sword in this day and age. Of course, he did not condone the killing of mortals, unless to protect other mortals, and even then he would rather choose incapacitation. Sometimes he really wished that he had taken to heart many of the things the oldest Immortal had said to him over the years.

He heard the soft discharge of a silenced gun. His body jerked with the impact and he stumbled back a step. He raised a hand to his chest, feeling the disbelief he experienced every time he was shot.

“Bring his sword, he’ll need it if he’s going to go up against the other one.” Was that fear MacLeod heard in his voice? He frowned but did not have time to contemplate that thought as the man shot him again.

--

The X-men were gathered in the Blackbird. They were all dressed in the black suits that were the norm when they were on missions. Ororo was already seated in the co-pilot’s seat. Kurt sat behind her and Logan sat behind the pilot’s seat. While they were training Rogue and Bobby to eventually become part of the team it had been agreed that this mission was simply too dangerous for them.

Scott sat down in the pilot’s seat. His hands gripped the armrests so tightly that his knuckles were white. The last time he had been in the stealth plane he had lost Jean, the love of his life. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. He had a team member to retrieve and he could not afford to fall to pieces.

Cyclops… Scott, it is possible for Wolverine or Storm to assume command on this mission, the professor’s voice said in his mind. Scott shook his head.

I can do this, he told the man he looked up to as a father. I have to, he added to himself.

Godspeed, was the only reply before the presence left his mind. He felt some of his unease drain away. Xavier trusted that he could do this. His team trusted that he could.

Ororo gave Scott a sidelong glance but did not comment. She knew how hard it was for him. It was hard for them all. Usually she would have piloted the plane in Jean’s absence, but she was needed to summon a storm cloud to further hide their presence when they reached the base.

After a moment’s pause Scott reached forward and began to work the controls. He was the leader of the team and it was his job to put aside his emotional baggage and lead the team properly. He could not let emotions cloud his decisions. He focussed his attention solely on flying the plane and the mission ahead, nothing else mattered at this point.

It was some time later when he noticed dark clouds curling around the plane and hiding it from view. He hazarded a brief glance at Ororo and noticed that her blue eyes had gone white with the power she channelled through her. He turned his attention once more to flying. Noting their co-ordinates he slowly began to ease the plane to land on an open patch of land near the base where their misplaced team member was being kept.

The plane landed with a jolt and the four mutants unbuckled their seatbelts. Three faces turned to look at him and Scott pulled himself up to his full height.

“We have a man in there. We have no idea what condition he’s in, but we’re going to bring him out in one piece,” he told them.

“Then we’re gonna level the place,” Logan growled. The corner of Scott’s mouth twitched as he fought a smirk.

“Then we’re going to level the place,” he agreed. He raised a hand to check that his visor was firmly in place. “Let’s do this.”

TBC